The field of the present disclosure relates generally to self-defense systems for a vehicle and, more specifically, to systems and methods for maneuvering a vehicle to protect itself from a directed energy attack.
At least some known directed energy weapons, such as high-energy laser weapons and high-power microwave weapons, are becoming an increasingly prominent threat to aircraft. More specifically, directed energy weapons are capable of channeling a large amount of stored energy towards a target at the speed of light. As such, different avoidance techniques for directed energy weapons are typically implemented when compared to avoidance techniques implemented for traditional projectile-type weapons. For example, the aircraft may be manufactured with paints or coatings, or may be manufactured from heavy and robust materials such that the aircraft is capable of withstanding a directed energy attack for an increased amount of time. However, modifying the construction of the aircraft may increase its overall weight, thereby reducing the fuel efficiency of the aircraft. Moreover, the pilot of an aircraft under directed energy attack can sometimes manually maneuver the aircraft to reduce the intensity of the directed energy received at the aircraft. However, in such a scenario, an amount of damage to the aircraft is directly dependent on the reaction time of and types of maneuvers selected by the pilot of the aircraft.